Ken..

I don't work for VOIPo but have been involved since the beta days. Even in those beta days while helping test the service, I haven't experienced anything like what you describe.
Sure, I expect some blips along the way, VOIP you know, but even during the beta days, I still had no land line and for the most part, it worked pretty well.

As Tim mentioned a few times in the past, for whatever reason, a handful of users will just not work with certain providers no matter what. The vicissitudinous nature of VOIP I suppose.